Peterson Farm Bros - From Entertainment to Advocacy

About two years ago a trio of brothers made headlines by creating a parody to the popular LMFAO song "I'm Sexy and I Know It." No one, not even the brothers themselves, had any idea the firestorm they would create that would open the door of agriculture to millions of YouTube viewers.

By now, you know I'm talking about Greg, Kendal and Nathan Peterson, more commonly known as the Peterson Farm Bros. Their first song parody amassed more than 9 million views on YouTube and led them to appearances on national news outlets, Yahoo!'s homepage and countless speaking engagements in the past two years.

I recently heard Greg, the eldest bro, speak at the International Symposium for Beef Cattle Welfare in Ames, IA (which is why I was basically MIA last week) and it was interesting to hear him speak about the progression of their video series. What started out as a video for entertainment purposes has transitioned into a more robust advocacy campaign that is designed to spark more conversations and engage with consumers about farming practices. The Peterson family has even started opening their farm up for tours a few times each month.

Their most recent video All I Do is Farm (a parody of All I Do is Win) is definitely my favorite. Not only do I love that song, (it's on my iPod's running playlist) but they do a fantastic job of explaining why they do certain things and answering some of the questions that viewers might have about farm and ranch life.



Some of my favorite pieces of this video:

• How risky and unpredictable farming is but they just trust in Him
• The volatility of the markets and how that affects their livelihood
• Feeding the cattle a healthy ration
• Caring for their animals has always been a number one passion
• Farming is a family affair
• Conservation is on their minds and they are continually improving their operation and striving to decrease their carbon footprint
• The use of technology and input less to produce more

How can farmers and ranchers do a better job of reaching consumers and food purchasers on the level that the Peterson Farm Bros have? For my non-ag readers - how do you prefer to learn more about farming and ranching? Would you rather see a video like the Peterson Bros parodies, visit a farm or read a blog? What helps connect the dots for you?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~